An Ancestral Journey through the winds of time planting seeds in Harrison and Grimes County Texas

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Open Letter To Mariah Taylor of Marshall Texas

I originally posted a letter similar to this on Afrigeneas in 2004 and thought I would revisit even though she is is on my mind daily.

Hello,I am your ggg-grandaughter and I have been looking for you for years. I know I am a little off but some folk tell me that as an ancestor you are just waiting to be found. Just so you know, I have spent countless hours on the internet looking at census records for Harrison County Texas. I know I have gone page by page, line by line at least fifteen times looking for you in the 1880 and 1870 census and came up blank. I stay up in the wee hours of the night looking at records on Ancestry and Heritage Quest. I call that my Pajama Time.

I do want to thank you for letting yourself be found in the 1900 and 1910 census. It was awesome when I located you several houses down from your son Joseph aka JP and his wife Frances Dickerson Taylor. I am still trying to figure out who that young man Edward Davis was that was living with you and your husband Lawrence Taylor in 1900 and Ben who was with you in 1910. I wonder if they were natural links to Lawrence and not to you since you were his third marriage and both of the census I found you on said you had married only once and that you only had one child and that child was living.

That doggone enumerator even tried to trick me when I saw he said your name was Maria. If I had not listened to those people at AfriGeneas about spelling not counting, I would have passed you by.I know you are out there so would you please do me a favor so I can get a good night's sleep. Give me a hint or show yourself in 1870 or 1880. Every indication tells me that you and your son Joseph should be in the census together, and I would love to see you two .

I love you and thanks for all the sacrifices you made for your family that came after you.

I feel your frustration. The ancestors play a mean game of hide and seek, don't they? I know Mariah is out there just waiting for you to find her. She's probably laughing cause she left you a trail of clues you just haven't realized it yet!